This weeks research – Quirke Family

As per my post a few days ago, I’ve been checking out the new search function on Irish Family History Foundation. So far for all of the records I have viewed, I have come up trumps in my search for my Quirke Family from Kilkenny.

From a transcript of the life of Thomas Quirk, which was written in the late 1890’s, Thomas wrote that his paternal grandparents were James & Alice Reid and had married around 1796 in Tipperary and shortly after marriage, “They went to reside at Mount Nugent House near St John’s Well County Kilkenny. My grandfather acted as agent for the landlord named Millet who resided at St John’s town”.

The ability to search on full names for marriages is only available for some counties, including Kilkenny and South Tipperary. I found no marriage in South Tipperary for a James & Alice Reid (variant spellings, Read, Reade & Reed) but I did find the following marriage in Kilkenny in 1797 at St Johns Parish, which fits will in to where my Quirke’s lived.

Date of Marriage: 02-Jul-1797

Parish / District: ST. JOHN’S County: Co. Kilkenny

Husband: James Quirke

Wife: Ally Reed

Denomination: Roman Catholic

Parents Names: Not listed

Witness 1 John Reed Witness 2 Mary Quirk

James & Alice had a total of 12 children, 10 males and 2 females. Up until the last couple of days, I only knew the names of 4 of the males, Peter, John, Thomas & Nicholas, 3 of which came to NSW to live in the 1850’s & 1860’s. Now after finding the baptism records, I believe I now have a few more of the names of the children of James &Alice:

For the following, the father’s name is consistent; being James Quirk, but the mother’s first name or last name is spelt differently.

The only baptism record that almost matches to my direct ancestor, John Quirk is this one:

John Quirk – 26/01/1800 – Parish St John’s – Father listed as John Quirk, Mother listed as Ally Read. It’s likely that the father’s name was listed incorrectly as John, instead of James on the original parish record.

The next thing to do is to find the names of the other 3 males and the 2 female children. From the transcript of Thomas Quirke’s life he also wrote that ‘after my grandfather’s death my uncle John was appointed Agent for our Landlord and held the position until he was accidentally killed by being crushed between a gatepost and a vehicle. My paternal Uncles and Aunts were all well-educated. Some died young, and others emigrated to America. One was a Master Tailor in Liverpool England, and another a grocer’s assistant in Kilkenny. The other an officer in the army.

I’m not sure when James Quirk died, but John died sometime prior to 1853, as on the NSW shipping record, for his daughter Mary, who arrived on the ship Athenian, it’s listed that her father was deceased and mother was living in Johns Well Kilkenny and I’m thinking also that he died prior to 1847, as he is not listed on the Griffith’s valuations at Mount Nugent, though three of his brothers are. There is a John Quirk who was in the parish of St John, listed as a Tenant & Landlord at the place name of ‘McGrahth’s Lane’ in 1849 & 1850. I’m not sure if the John Quirk at McGrath’s lane is mine or not, as mine was the ‘agent for Millet up until his death.